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Dr. Geoffrey V. Guns

Area Ministers Preparing To Host Va. Baptist Convention In Chesapeake

Leonard E. Colvin
Chief Reporter
New Journal & Guide
 
The  375 churches which make up the Virginia Baptist State Convention, (VBSC) will stage its 141st annual session, for the first time in Chesapeake, at that city’s conference center  May 12-16.
       The VBSC is one of the oldest of the historic faith-based organizations serving the African American community, dating back to its founding in 1867.  It was one of the first statewide Black Baptist organizations founded shortly after the end of the Civil War and two years after Blacks were released from the bonds of slavery.
       The VBSC was formed to provide an organizational network to aid Black Baptist churches across Virginia and through overseas mission in Africa and else.   Also, via its member churches, it ministers  to the spiritual needs of the thousands who sit in the sanctuaries of its member institutions each Sunday.
       Like most historic organizations which have managed to exist and function long term into the 21st century, the VBSC has found it necessary to adapt its mission to the times. During its early years of operation, it helped forge the creation of a network of Black Baptist churches which served as the backbone for the formation of black socioeconomic development, during  the late 19th century.
       In 1978, according to the Rev. Geoffrey V. Guns,  he attended his first VBSC convention. This year, he and Dr. Naomi Chambers are the convention co-chairs.
For six years back then, his calling was with the U.S. Army after graduating from Norfolk State University with a commission.  But he resigned his commission and entered Virginia Seminary in Lynchburg. In 1983 he was named senior pastor of the Second Calvary Baptist Church, a position he has held since.
       “Over the years the organization has grown with members and adapted to the changes in this world,” said  Guns. “We have remained true to our mission as an educational ministry for the churches who serve their people.  Our unity is always a resource that we collectively use to provide leadership training, share technology and other resources our churches need to carry out the work of the Lord in our communities.”
        One of the long-time services still being practiced by the VBSC and other conventions of its kind, is dispatching missionaries overseas to minister spiritually and provide economic aid and political support to the people of the African continent.

Posted April 16, 2008

     
        Each year, thousands of Christian missionaries from the various Baptist churches are organized into groups and dispatched to small villages in Kenya and other African countries.
       “There are so many issues which must be confronted on that continent,” said Guns.

     “So we have provided guidance on social  issues and economic development. We  lobby the Virginia Assembly on behalf of our missions overseas. We want to be a resource to relieve some of the suffering and disparities which exist over there.”
     Guns said that VBSC members have their missionary duties at home as well. He said the convention’s churches  have created ministries to address a wide range of issues and pathologies impacting the African American community.
      Churches are using technological innovations including the Internet and power point presentations to address issues such as the drop out rates among African American high schoolers, and economic development in inner-cities long abandoned by industry and the middle class.
       “We see churches large and small, reach out to address so many issues beyond providing the spiritual guidance of the individual,” Guns said. ”In the community we are still feeding the poor and looking after the sick. But you see churches creating ministries dealing with homelessness, AIDS, and HIV, dealing with the growing single-parent family trends. You name the issue and most Black Churches have managed to muster the responsibility to attack them.”
       During the four-day program over 19 different workshops and sermons are being scheduled, Guns explained.  Convention organizers say they are including programs directed at youth. For instance,  there will be a forum on “The Pitfalls of High School Culture” and  “The Middle School Years and the Challenges Kids Face. ” Both forums will address complex teen issues.
      “I will be looking at the church and how it can be interactive with the community with the social gospel in the modern era,” said the Rev. Kevin Swann, who has been in the ministry for a decade.

     For more information about the upcoming convention the website is http://www.virginiapreachers.com/   or http://www.vbsc2008.org. Or call (757) 934-0191 or (757) 722-1612.   

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